It began more than 11 years ago as Who are They? and evolved quickly into Who are You?, Salut Sunderland‘s series of interviews with fans of each of Sunderland’s opposing clubs. We’ve had the famous and the not-so-famous, creating a rich archive of often quite outstanding features. There have been few gaps and those that have occurred did so mostly because supporters who promised to answer our questions failed in the end, for whatever reasons, to deliver.
All good things come to an end, however. The business of finding willing fans, pinning them down and getting the interviews published can be complicated and is usually time-consuming. The resulting readership figures do not always justify our efforts or those of the interviewees.
We shall start this season with a rough-and-ready replacement. A shorter list of questions will be posted here before each game and the fans of each club due to face Sunderland will be invited to answer.
If the idea works, we will maintain the annual HAWAY (Highly Articulated Who Are You?) awards for the best sets of answers. If it doesn’t, it will be quietly dropped. Salut! Sunderland thanks the army of opposition fans who made the series something of which we and they can be reasonably proud.
And here are the questions for Oxford United fans. Don’t worry if your responses fail to appear as soon as sent; an anti-spam device means comments submitted by visitors who have not done so in the past are held briefly for moderation …
Salut! Sunderland: * if you support Oxford United, were you modestly satisfied with a respectable 12th top finish last season? What must (and can feasibly) be done to improve on that?
** What is the legacy of Stewart Donald and how are he and Charlie Methven, ours for now but lifelong Oxford supporters, viewed by your fans?
*** Who are you looking to among your squad to produce game-changing performances?
**** Tell us what it means to you to be an Oxford United supporter and not succumb to glory-seeking temptations to follow big clubs?
***** What did you make of Sunderland last season? Did our late stumble surprise you or did you see it coming?
****** Hand on heart, where will our two clubs finish this season?
******* Will you get to this game? What will be the score?
That’s it. Short and sweet. And with no disrespect to our visitors, Ha’way the Lads.
